JPMorgan Chase. Source: Financial Times
Major bank JP Morgan is in the news once again. US authorities have slapped a penalty of almost $1 billion on the country’s largest bank to resolve investigations into its purported manipulation of metals futures and Treasury securities. This comes after a FinCEN report name-dropped JP Morgan for contributing to moving $2 trillion worth of ‘dirty money’, and a SWIFT report called crypto almost ‘clean’.
As per a Reuters coverage yesterday, New York-based JP Morgan has agreed to make a penalty payment of around $1 billion. The settlement for this amount will happen collectively between the bank and the Department of Justice, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), and the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC).
This humongous fine is a mandatory liability for the big bank to resolve investigations in the alleged manipulation of precious metal futures and Treasury securities. Also, according to Reuters, it would:
… lift a regulatory shadow that has hung over the bank for several years and mark a signature victory for the government’s efforts to clamp down on illegal trading techniques, such as spoofing, especially in the precious metals markets
Although, as per JP Morgan’s previous statements, the bank was in talks to end this debacle, once and for all after being under fire from 2008-2016.
The centralized finance space sure has too many skeletons buried under its closets. And speaking of skeletons, JP Morgan was also named in a recently released FinCEN report for aiding in a global money-laundering racket worth $2 trillion.
The US Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) in a recently revealed set of documents admitted receiving thousands of suspicious activity reports (SARs) from banks. Not just from any bank but names such as HSBC, Standard Chartered, Bank of America, JP Morgan, etc.
Despite, receiving several warnings from relevant authorities, they collectively helped move funds to the tune of $2 trillion for suspected criminals (financial and others).
JP Morgan in collaboration with Bank of America, Citibank, and American Express “collectively processed millions of dollars in transactions for the family of Viktor Khrapunov”, an Interpol wanted native of Kazakhstan.
BuzzFeed, in its coverage, brought to light the visibly gnawing state of the global financial system that is dominated by the so-called big banks.
The FinCEN Files expose an underlying truth of the modern era: the networks through which dirty money traverse the world have become vital arteries of the global economy. They enable a shadow financial system so wide-ranging and unchecked that it has become inextricable from the so-called legitimate economy. Banks with household names have helped to make it so.
Despite hiding in ‘sharp suits’ and ‘feeding off the tragedy of people dying all over the world’, big bankers have never shied away from pointing fingers at bitcoin and cryptocurrencies. However, their attempts have been in vain as a recent SWIFT report reveals that Bitcoin is not a very popular instrument for illicit transactions.
Also considering market manipulation, the lawsuits that called out Bitfinex and Tether for manipulating the 2017 bitcoin market are also baseless. As mentioned in the rebuttal motion, the crypto exchange and the USDT minting company have appropriately pointed out the absence of sufficient proof regarding the matter.
JP Morgan, however, is not so lucky, considering the big money which the big bank has to shell out as fine against allowing spoofing by its traders.